I am looking at a 96 850 turbo wagon with 90K miles. Can anyone give me hints/tips of what to look out for? Common problems/maintenance issues/complaints? The car was in Connecticut for half its life and NC for the other. I am new to volvo so any info is appreciated!

 

Buy the car. I have owned a '97 850 Turbo w/ 108K miles for going on 5 months. The only problem is worn brake rotors/pads and the parking brake doesn't work.

My theory is to learn how to do a cooling system leak-down test and try to find a car with service receipts.

If there is any common problem, it would be freon leaking in Air Conditioning Evaporator under Dash. But, this is a common problem with any make of car.

Timing Belt should have been replaced at 70K miles. One of the first things that you should do after buying the car is drain and refill auto trans fluid.

Just look for things, like you would while buying any car.

 

I just acquired a '93 850 three months ago, so I cannot comment on common problems or complaints. The '93 I have has 202K miles on it and it runs great. The body and undercarriage have held up great over years, with no rust present (I live in NW New Jersey with heavily salted roads in winter). I have owned many different domestic and foriegn cars over the years (GM's, Chyrslers, Fords, Porsches, and BMW to name a few) and I am very impressed by the design and quality of my Volvo. I recently changed the front wheel bearing and found working on it was much easier than the other cars I have serviced. The car also gets great gas mileage for its size.

Like robert213 mentioned, try and find out if the car has a service record. Ask owner what service he conducted over past years and if he has receipts. Also run a carfax on it to be sure it was not in any major accident.